My Own Two Feet
by Hyaci
Summary: The king is dead. The Queen assassinated. The princess is on the run. Disguising herself as a man, Zelda runs into someone who just might be the hero she needs. But, is he the hero she wants? Can't Zelda just save the day herself? Butt-kicking Zelda and Link duo. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Hey there! Hyaci here!

I decided to branch out into some darker genres, and this was born. It's a ZeLink fanfic, and it will be told from two perspectives, typically switching perspectives every other chapter.

I do not own the Legend Of Zelda. Please enjoy, and read and review!

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A hooded figure stood at the edge of Castle Town market. Dressed in a cloak of black, inky darkness, she seemed out of place with the bustling liveliness of the city. People took no notice of her presence- they had their lives to live, and could not afford to waste time over-thinking one of many mysterious figures that had passed through the town in the past few decades. Even the guards, competent as they seemed, revealed their incompetency by ignoring the figure that was standing, seemingly without a reason, at edge of the market at castle town.

Bugles signified the entrance of royalty- the presence of the Queen, and a hushed silence fell over the citizens, who would not cease their daily life for a mysterious hooded figure, but certainly would for their beloved Queen.

Daintily, the Queen descended the steps from the castle, her hair clasped sensibly behind her, a long, thick auburn rope, streaked with grey. Her features had the undeniable beauty- though it was aged beauty, it was undeniably there- that could belong to no other than a descendant of the Nohansen line, the dynasty that had been ruling over Hyrule for as long as anyone could remember. A tiara adorned her lovely head, a mere decoration that went highly unnoticed beside the extraordinary loveliness of the Queen, fine though it was.

She took hesitant, faltering steps down the castle stair into the center of the town, and solemnly looked around her, at the awed citizens who surrounded her. They stood in silence, as a single, glistening tear streaked down, from her eyes, past her alabaster white cheeks, and dropped onto the floor. Her ragged breathing, from there, quickly became loud sobs. It was not often that the people could witness such an emotional display from royalty, and they wondered what calamity could have caused the Queen to show such sorrow. Though in their hearts, each and every person knew just what had happened.

The Queen seemed to steel herself before addressing those around her, though she still looked quite sorrowful, a bit like a lost child. She opened her beautiful mouth to deliver the news that was her duty to announce to the world, horrible though it was. At first, nothing escaped from the lips, and she closed them awkwardly, before trying again, and this time, succeeding.

"The King," she said in an emotionless tone, a tone that resounded like cold metal, which suggested that the woman who spoke in the tone had no idea of emotions, although her teary face proved otherwise. "Is dead."

This was the cue for the hooded figure, who needed no further prompting. Swiftly, she pulled out a bow and an arrow, and aimed straight for the Queen. Every person in the town saw her, but was much too late to stop her. The arrow flew straight and true, and embedded itself deep into the chest of the grieving Queen.

For what seemed to be an eternity, time stood still. The Queen looked down at her chest, where the arrow had struck, blood quickly soaking the clothes around the wound. Then she looked up, at the people in the crowd, with sad, desolate eyes. For a moment, she stood, dignified, even in the face of death, and then slowly, her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Her body fell forward, falling with a kind of grace that one only obtains in the final moments before death, and landed on the cobblestone floor, with a resounding thud, a note of finality. And the guards, the people, the shopkeepers looked on with dismay and regret at the avoidable fate of the Queen. If only they'd been more careful, less trusting of the mysterious hooded figure, then they'd still have their dear queen to lead them through the time of crisis. If only, if only. All the people in the square held, deep in their heart, a newfound sliver of shame.

Then, they turned on the hooded figure, or rather, they turned to where the hooded figure used to be, for she was no longer there. All that remained was the cloak, now rendered an ordinary black, a bow, and a quiver of arrows that were undoubtedly poisoned. The citizens looked amongst themselves, knowing full well that any of the people in the crowd could be the assassin. That any of the ordinary faces of their everyday lives could be a traitorous fiend that lusted for the deaths of all in the royal family.

There was silence, and it pervaded through the entire town. What, a few minutes ago was a bustling market, was now a crowd of mourning citizens, holding vigil over their beloved, fallen queen.

* * *

A solemn five year old stared out the window of the castle, into the square, where her mother had fallen. Her face betrayed no emotion- a blank expression adorned her face, but from the way she was shaking, her sorrow- tinged with fear- was evident.

She'd seen it all- how the hooded woman had shot the queen- how all the guards had been apparently oblivious as to the danger that the woman was posing. Her first thought as her mother was shot was that she'd make improvements to security when she took the throne. Sorrow came after, not quite as strong as it would have been for any other child her age, but still a powerful feeling.

Finally, anger overtook her. Rage and something more- more potent than simple rage could ever be. A lust for revenge, a feeling of pure unadulterated anger, directly associated with the hooded woman. The five year old princess began smashing her possessions onto the ground, her vision blurred by the tears that were only now beginning to grace her with their presence. Her little frame shook, her mouth curved into a bitter smile. First it was her father- murdered by his own best friend- then her mother, who was shot at by someone who was undoubtedly looking to instigate a rebellion.

The little princess saw things this way. She was quite bright for her age- her mother, bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom- had passed both the intelligence and responsibility to her, young though she was. And now, with the Queen dead on the streets, not a moment too soon either.

A slight rustling had the princess staring at the window, where the once cloaked woman stood.

"You," she spat, with untamed hate, copious amounts of hate, hate of various kinds, all poured into the one-syllable word she had just uttered.

The intruder cocked her head. "So angry for a child."

"What did you expect," the little princess laughed darkly. "Rainbows? Ponies? Unicorns?"

The intruder inclined her head. "One would think that, yes."

"After what I just saw?"

"Ah, so you saw that." The intruder smiled wickedly. "This makes my task so much harder."

"What is your task?" the little princess whispered.

"Kidnap," the intruder said, with a bit of delusional happiness tingeing her voice. She suddenly lunged at the little princess, who had been expecting this, and countered with diving under the bed.

Once underneath, the little princess quickly flitted into the crawlspace that had been fitted under her bed. She'd remembered when her mother had it installed.

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"_If the castle is ever under siege- and falls- you may use this to escape."_

_The little princess inspected the crawlspace. "It's small," she announced._

_Her mother laughed. "Yes, yes it is."_

"_What if I grow too big for it?"_

"_We're hoping that you won't have to use it by that time."_

_The princess looked at it thoughtfully for a while, before inquiring, "Where does it lead to?"_

_The queen pursed her lips. "It leads to a bar in downtown. It's a safehouse. Talk to the bartender there- she'll show you where to go next."_

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Well, this wasn't a siege, but it'd have to do. The little princess crawled as fast as she could, away from the intruder, who was much too large a person to follow her into the crawlspace. The little princess crawled for dear life, envisioning as she crawled, approximately where she believed she was in the city.

After nearly an hour or two of crawling, the princess sat down to rest herself. Perhaps she'd stay in here- it was safe, safer than anywhere else. In a moment she knew she couldn't- no food, no water would keep her alive in the crawlspace. Sighing, she recommenced her crawling,

She crawled on… and on… and lost track of time. She didn't know for how long she'd crawled, but after a long time, she finally began to notice a light at the end of the tunnel. A good thing too, because she was beginning to believe she'd been shipped to a never-ending tunnel.

Eagerly, she pressed on- and into an empty bar, devoid of any customers. A young girl who had been sweeping the floor dropped her broom at the sight of the dusty girl who had just emerged from the tunnel.

"Who are you?" The girl said in a quiet shaky voice.

"Where's the bartender?" The princess asked.

"Telma? She's in Kakariko at the moment, why?"

"Help me," the princess said. "I have to see her."

"Who ARE you?"

The little princess trembled, and slowly lifted her hand- and the ring that sat on the smallest finger on her hand, the ring that bore the signet of the Hylian royal family. The sweeping-girl's eyes widened.

"I-I'm Zelda Nohansen, crown princess of Hyrule."

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You likey likey? If you do, please review! Reviews help me with my creativity, and stroke my ego! Of course, negative reviews are also welcomed with a smile, as they help me improve!


	2. Chapter 2

Hi! It's Hyaci! I'm back to this fic after a hiatus of... many, many months. Updates may be sporadic, but please stay... interested lol.

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Zelda looked in the mirror before her, and saw a stranger staring back. No longer was she the crown princess of Hyrule. Now, she was disguised as an ordinary girl. Everything about her was ordinary now- her hair, her clothes, everything. She even thought that, in comparison, her even her face looked rather plainer than before.

"Nobody should recognize you now," a voice said tiredly. That voice belonged to a large, plump woman with red hair and a weary disposition. Zelda momentarily wondered if, perhaps, it was the long war that had robbed this woman of her personality. She had met many people like that- people who had been changed by the war. Her mother was one of them.

She shook herself from those thoughts. It would do no good to think of her mother now- not when it made her lust for revenge. She had to concentrate on her escape- to even _think_ of revenge would be detrimental to her chances, especially if she let her impulses control her.

"No," Zelda answered softly. "I'm completely different now." Her voice held a mournful tone- she was dismayed at the thought of shedding her identity in its entirety. Being a princess was how she was defined- without it, she had nothing, was nothing.

"Tough luck, honey," Telma replied, correctly interpreting the situation as something that would bubble into an identity crisis, and evidently not having the patience to deal with such things. She gave an exhausted sigh, and pointed towards the door. "The carriage is outside. There's a secret compartment under the seats- you'll hide down there. Of course, you'll need magic to open it-"

"Magic?" Zelda interrupted, panicking. "I can't do _magic_!"

"You can't?" Telma asked her incredulously. "What in the _world_ was your mother teaching you these past five years?"

"Ettiquette! Propriety! Domestic skills! Things that princesses are expected to learn! Not _magic!_"

"So basically nothing useful?" Telma rolled her eyes and heaved a sigh. "Your father's influence, no doubt. He never liked it when your mother used her magic... it made him feel inadequate. Weak. Less of a man." Another sigh, deeper this time, more despondent. "That makes everything me and your mother planned _so _much harder."

"You mean you can't smuggle me out?" Zelda asked, her voice breaking and colouring with fear as she did so. She began to wring her hands out of a nervous habit she had never been able to break.

"Do you _listen_?" Telma snapped. "I never said _anything_ like that. I just said that your inexperience would make things more difficult."

Zelda said nothing. Instead, she just looked at Telma with a timid look on her face. Telma softened at this, perhaps due to maternal urges that had been long buried by the war. "Look," she said, her voice a tad bit kinder, slower, less angry. "I'm just frustrated by all this. Look, maybe we can get Fanadi to help us."

"Fanadi?"

"The fortuneteller," Telma explained. "She can help us open the secret compartment. For a price."

"She can use magic?"

"No," Telma said with a brittle laugh. "She can pick locks. One of the few who can crack magical ones.."

Zelda nodded. So not all hope was lost- this fortuneteller would assist them in leaving the city, and then from there...

"And what do we do afterwards?" Really, she hoped that there was some sort of plan. She didn't want to have to leave the town with nowhere to go, and no idea of what to do- that was asking for death. Especially during these troubled times.

Telma shook her head. "You'll be going alone," she said. "The carriage will take you all the way to Ordon- that's the part of Hyrule that's furthest from castle town- and hopefully you'll be able to stay there until all this dies down."

A sinking feeling materialized in Zelda's stomach, and she sunk into a thoughtful silence. She was going have to be by herself. This smacked of cliche- undoubtedly, the carriage would be accosted on the way there. Then, the story would take one of two possible routes- either a prince would come along and whisk her off her feet, or she would be kidnapped by some sort of evil. Currently, the latter seemed much more likely, especially if her fears were correct and there was some sort of conspiarcy...

"Don't overthink it," Telma spoke, again correctly gauging the source of Zelda's newfound pensiveness. "Even if the carriage is attacked, only someone who can use magic can find you. You just have to stay quiet until they're gone, and you're safe."

The princess nodded. "Okay," she said, trying to make herself sound determined. "Okay."

Leaning down, the bartender gave Zelda a kiss on the cheek. "You'll be fine," she said in a motherly tone. "You'll be just fine."

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The carriage came to a sudden stop, and Zelda found herself worrying immensely. The ride hadn't lasted long enough for them to have reached her destination- they had only been on the road for a couple of hours, when everyone knew it took a matter of days to traverse the distance between castle town and Ordon village. Even if they had made it, why would the carriage stop so abruptly? A slow stop was far more convenient, as well as far safer. Something was off- she just knew it.

The carriage lurched. Chills ran down her back, and she shivered instinctively. Even her body knew something was wrong. Really, it would be nothing other than denial to not acknowledge the potential danger. Quickly, she began to plan her possible courses of action. Either she could stay within and hope the whole thing blew over, or she could try and escape now while the attacker was distracted by the horses and the carriage driver. Neither of the options seemed particularly attractive, but she was leaning towards the latter.

Her hand was reaching towards the handle that would let her out of the compartment, when all of a sudden, the carriage began to move again. Zelda felt herself sink back in relief- so it was nothing. She had just let her fears carry her away. Now, the carriage was moving again, and she was back on the right track to Ordon.

Was it... was it just her imagination, or was the ride bumpier than before? They were currently on a plain, weren't they? Grass... wasn't grass supposed to be soft? Smoother. Fear once again wormed its way past her subconscious and invaded her mind. Whoever was driving the carriage was evidently taking her off the right path. But... who?

An epiphany struck her, and she began to maneuver herself until she was facing the ground. Zelda moved her hand up and down the wood beneath her, testing it for any flaws. Sure enough, there was a weak spot close to her midsection. She curled herself up until she was face to face with the spot, and in a swift motion, pulled the ring off her finger, and used the gem to break it.

"Yes," she hissed in triumph, before stopping herself in fear of being heard. Quietly, she listened to see if there was any reaction from the new carriage driver, but when the carriage failed to stop, she knew that she had not been overheard. Quickly, she moved herself so that her eye was right over the hole, and looked the the outside ground below.

Rock and gravel... rock and gravel? The ground was red- a rusty color... no, this was definitely not on the way to Ordon. Both Ordon and Hyrule field had ground covered by lush green grass. She had been kidnapped...

Or, perhaps, not. Maybe whoever it was that had appropriated the carriage only did so for the material riches they thought it would contain. Surely her presence hadn't been detected. And besides, she reminded herself, even if she was discovered, they would never be able to get to her. As long as she remained in the hidden compartment, she was safe- safe unless they knew how to break the lock . And, as far as her knowledge went, there were very few people who were skilled enough to unlock the door. Even Fanadi had struggled with the task, and was really only able to do so after plethoras of failed attempts...

If nothing else, Zelda was vaguely comforted by the thought. She knew it was no true assurance of her safety- after all, there was the possibility that her kidnapper knew of Fanadi's methods- but it assuaged her worries to some degree, at the very least. In any case, the thought that her kidnapper did would not have the chance to kill her gave her some sort of morbid amusement. Assuming that the person who was steering the carriage had neither the knowledge nor the ability to unlock the secret compartment, she was, in effect, cheating him or her out of the chance to have the princess of Hyrule at his or her mercy. In that hypothetical situation, it was a small victory that Zelda could revel in, even if she were destined to die. Even if Hyrule was destined to suffer the loss of its princess, at least it would have the satisfaction of denying this person the right of killing her...

But who was she kidding? That was no compensation. She shook her head to clear herself of such thoughts. She couldn't just sit here and accept the situation as it was! Zelda felt something harden within her- yes, she told herself. A princess of Hyrule shouldn't have to suffer the indecency of such a death. The newly uncovered steel within her rewarded her with both an epiphany as well as a burst of adrenaline, and she brought her fist hurtling down to the bottom of the carriage.

A bright triangle suddenly appeared on the top of her hand. It was shimmering, splendid, and golden. Her eyes could barely see it due to the brightness that illuminated it, but what she could see was wondrously beautiful She had no chance to even feel surprised before her hand broke through the boards with force she knew she was incapable of. In the split second before she fell through the newly made hole, her eyes widened and she registered the fact that she hadn't felt the pain she had been expecting the floorboards to give her. Strange, strange. The triangle that had appeared on her hand- what was it?

And then she was hurtling out from the bottom of the carriage, her brain once more resumed its activity. As she had planned, she curled into a ball to minimize damage to her body. She rolled as far as she could from the carriage, and when she rolled no further, she stood and dusted herself off. A quick glance behind her told her that it had been bokoblins that had taken control of the cart. The fact that one of them looked at her briefly before looking away made it evident that they were aware of her, but felt that she was of no value, presented no interest to them. For the first- and most likely only- time in her life, she felt grateful that she had been rated as insignificant.

There, far too close to Eldin Gorge, stood a little girl, no more than five or six years old. Her face held an strangely solemn expression- one unusual for someone of her age. Tiny fists were held to her sides, clenched. Clenched so tight that her little fingernails were sure to make half-moon marks on her palm. But the most jarring- the most out of place characteristic- was the expression in her little, blue, almond shaped eyes. It was an look that could rarely be observed in young children such as she. An expression that was, however, certainly to be expected on the face of someone who had gone as much hardship as this little princess. Indeed, it was the only one anybody could truly expect for her to wear on her face.

Hate.

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So what do you think? Like it? Hate it? LOL. Please read and review, lol! I'll try to reply to every signed review!


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